Chart data from text file

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
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G

Guest

I have my x- and y- values as tab-separated values in a text file. There are
many different files, so it is too cubersome to open them all convert them
all to Excel.

Is there any way I can create a chart that reads its data from a text file?
 
I have my x- and y- values as tab-separated values in a text file. There are
many different files, so it is too cubersome to open them all convert them
all to Excel.

Is there any way I can create a chart that reads its data from a text file?
Click to expand...

I haven't dealt with it myself, but I understand something called ODBC
(Open Database Connectivity) is a good way to read external files that
aren't Excel into Excel. You'll need to learn to use ODBC, and make or
find an ODBC driver for tab-separated text files.

Perhaps one of the other Excel newsgroups can help you with this. It's a
bit outside the remit for microsoft.public.excel.charting, since it's
all about the stages that come before using the Excel spreadsheet's
small and limited graphing function. After you've found out how to bring
in the data, you can make an Excel Chart the same way you normally would
(except you may have to use named ranges instead of spreadsheet cell
reference ranges).
 
You can point a pivot table at external sources, but you have to then
somehow give it the key to unlock the structure of the source. A CSV file
isn't hard, and the PT brings in the data, but then it's tied up in a pivot
table.

I've just always written some technique in VBA to let a user choose one or
more files, dump the files into a new Excel sheet, and add the data to a new
or existing chart.

- Jon
 
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